The fine folks at MLB.com just finished counting down who they believe to be baseball’s Top 100 prospects over on the MLB Network. The full list of youngsters can be found here, along with expert analysis from prospect maven Jonathan Mayo.

touche PC….I’ve been so wrapped up in football here in Baltimore that I mixed my terms and sports. Let me rephrase- “saving money and in turn, being able to allocate funds elsewhere.” Sufficient.

Trust me- after 2012 season for the O’s, I can finally shut up about a salary cap in baseball. Instead, we focus on a mandatory floor. I’m thinking of writing TLC to put Uncle Pete on an episode of hoarders…

Profar is the right choice for No. 1. He has unlimited potential. Andrus is one of the two overall best shortstops in baseball- arguably the best. He is still very young. His up side is unlimited. However, in a year or two, the Rangers will replace him with Profar.

Profar is probably better than Andrus right now. Andrus is good defensively, but he isn’t exactly an offensive force. No power at all, but decent enough plate discipline and high contact rates lead to an above average (though not great) OBP. Profar’s offense profiles as far superior to that of Andrus (better OBP and a lot more power) and his glove is above average as well.

Andrus has an advantage over Profar ~ maturity and experience. No doubt Profar could acclimate quickly but I see him at 2nd and Kinsler in RF ~ if Cruz gets suspended. There was talk of Ian in the OF last year. Moreland is not a fit due to speed and with Beltre’s hamstring issues, Olt will probably be kept in reserve for 3rd and DH. I think it a bit unfair to both players to compare Andrus’ ML numbers with Profar’s minor league showing. There’s a helluva difference between the two levels. That said, I think Profar has the tools to make the transition and I suspect he will get that chance this season.

The Jays used to have 7 of the top 100 prospects, but they foolishly traded away 5 of them (#6, #29, #70, #72, and #82). All thy have left is #35, #90, the Cy Young winner, 2 other All Star caliber starting pitchers and one of the top 3 short stops in baseball. Talk about being short sighted!

You sound like you are literally trolling yourself here. Are you happy they made the trades or do you legitimately think they were foolish? Personally, I think the Jays may make a run at the AL East the next couple years and it was worth it to trade the young talent. I’m guessing you feel the same…but your troll was so good that I just can’t tell.

He was being sarcastic. He was ecstatic that the Jays had prospects, but now he just glad they traded them for proven MLB talent.

proudlycanadian - Jan 30, 2013 at 7:53 AM

It is great to have highly rated suspects; however, as paperlions has written before, a high percentage of them never pan out. On the other hand many minor leaguers who are not highly rated, turn out to be very productive major leaguers. The Jays see a window of opportunity and have turned several of their suspects into proven major leaguers. Some of their current minor leaguers will appear on top suspect lists a year from now, so the farm system was not completely denuded.

paperlions - Jan 30, 2013 at 8:00 AM

Yep, it was a good use of their minor league talent. The other teams are the one’s assuming the risk, but the risk is also much cheaper than paying the vets they traded. Those deals were great examples of win-win scenarios.

kyzslew77 - Jan 30, 2013 at 11:08 AM

Can’t wait for the Jays to go 81-81 and finish in 4th this year…. again.

And we have a winner on a technicality. Singleton (#27) is sitting out 50 days for weed. Penalty is the same as PED’s although I think you could make a case that marijuana is a performance-inhibitor. Ship those muffins to Oklahoma City, and thank you very much from the Astros’ organization.

So my mariners have like 6
Top prospects. Hmm I expect them to be up just in time to keep the professional farm team in out stadium.

Really are we just the team others pluck away players from just to turn them into a stud or even a star. It’s becoming ridiculous and hard to go to an M’s game watching AAA guys everyday in the majors.

Astros sit at #27, 30, 57 and 89. And, of course, their top prospect is sitting out 50 days for smoking marijuana. I guess it could be worse, but it doesn’t look like the cavalry is coming over the hill anytime soon.

If the Astros move Singleton to their 40 man roster, the suspension goes away…only non-roster players can be tested or suspended for weed. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Astros make such a move just so they don’t loose the development time, it may piss of MLB, but the Astros can’t be worried about what the league thinks….it isn’t like the league is concerned about specific teams or fan bases.

Is that true? They can simply move him to 40-man and he isn’t suspended? Wow I must have missed that information. I thought he had to be on the 40-man roster at the time of the test.

paperlions - Jan 30, 2013 at 11:22 AM

That is what was reported. There is no mechanism for testing or suspending players on the 40-man roster, who are covered by the CBA. Other minor leaguers are subjected to rules MLB can impose unilaterally.

stex52 - Jan 30, 2013 at 10:17 AM

Wow, sounds ethically challenging. But no problem for Crane, he’s already a war profiteer.

Chris Fiorentino - Jan 30, 2013 at 11:43 AM

paper, I know that they can’t test guys on the 40 man roster for weed. But I thought once the test was positive, they couldn’t then put the guy on the 40 man and say “Sorry, he’s on 40 man so suspension is null”

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged - Jan 30, 2013 at 2:37 PM

@Chris

Klaw has been trumpeting PL’s approach for months now, even though what you are saying makes perfect sense. Not sure why, if he’s already caught, merely moving him to the 40 man would reduce/eliminate the suspension?